The Buffalo Sabres have agreed to a two-year, $12.5 million contract with defenseman Bowen Byram, the team’s official X account announced.
Don’t look now, but the Sabres have quietly secured a good-looking defense core. Captain Rasmus Dahlin is a cornerstone and will not become an unrestricted free agent until 2032. Owen Power, who could benefit from pairing with newly acquired Michael Kesselring, is signed through 2031.
Throw in Mattias Samuelsson, who is locked up until 2030, plus the Byram bridge deal, and Buffalo has an exciting group that can age together as they approach their primes. None of those players has turned 26 yet, and they should provide the foundation for the latest Sabres rebuild.
Buffalo originally acquired Byram from the Colorado Avalanche for Casey Mittelstadt in a one-for-one trade in March 2024. He’s always been a talented skater and puck mover, and at 24 years old, this two-year trial period will determine how much he deserves on a long-term contract.
Byram may never pan out like his fourth-overall pick in the 2019 Draft status may have suggested, but he can still form a legitimate top pair with Dahlin. That partnership played over 600 minutes together at 5-on-5. Their +20 goal differential (which, in fairness, can be a misleading stat) was tied with the Avalanche’s Cale Makar and Devon Toews for the league lead.
Now, he gets the opportunity to grow with Dahlin and match up against opposing top forward lines for the next couple of years. Byram sticking around should also allow Power to build confidence against weaker competition as a second-pairing defenseman.
